The state of Northamptonshire’s roads is revealed!

It may surprise you that just 3% of Northamptonshire’s 315 miles of council-run A roads were judged to be in need of maintenance, only 9.5 miles.

Road inspections were carried out in the 12 months to March 2018.

The examinations, done by scanner machines and human inspection, identify sections of road worn by use or affected by ruts, bumps or potholes. It’s not clear from the figures how badly damaged the roads are.

The Department for Transport data also shows that 5% of the B and C roads were in need of work.

In total, there are 2,426 miles of minor roads in Northamptonshire.

The area in the East Midlands with the worst A roads is Nottingham.

The highway inspections use a classification called the Road Condition Indicator. This categorises a road as green, amber or red, based on ruts and bumps.

If a part of a route is branded red it should be checked more regularly as it is likely to require maintenance.

Across Britain, 717 miles of council-run A roads were deemed in need of maintenance.

RAC Breakdown spokesman Rod Dennis said: “These figures will come as little surprise to both drivers and those on two wheels who continue to have to put up with using sub-standard roads.

“We believe Britain’s pothole problem has been caused by years of under investment, especially when it comes to local roads – with councils having to make some tough decisions about where to prioritise spending.

“It’s a sad reality that investment hasn’t been sufficient to guarantee the quality of these roads.”

The figures also show that road conditions are roughly the same as they were five years ago, when a similar proportion of Northamptonshire’s A roads were in need of repairs.

These statistics only refer to Northamptonshire’s local authority run roads. The majority of roads in the area are the responsibility of the council while Highways England is in charge of the maintenance for motorways and some major A roads.